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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16, 2016
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Members of the Lena-Winslow High School Theatre Department brought real meaning to the lyrics, “All you really need is heart” when they brought down the house opening night with their production of Damn Yankees.
Le-Win High School Theatre Department brings ‘Heart’ to Damn Yankees LENA — If you’re one of those people who love a topnotch cornball musical full of vaudevillian shtick and recognizable musical standards like “Whatever Lola Wants” and “(You Gotta Have) Heart,” you’d be hard-pressed to find a more likable production of Damn Yankees than the antics staged by an entirely loveable crew at the Lena-Winslow Fine Arts Center over the weekend. A sporting spin on the “Faust” tale, “Damn Yankees” tells how Joe Boyd, an annoyed fan of the Washington Senators, makes a agreement with Applegate to be transformed into Joe Hardy, a 22-year-old slugger who will eventually lead his team to victory over the powerhouse New York Yankees. Allison Stockton cuts a strik-
ing figure as the temptress Lola, managing to be simultaneously seductive and adorable, while Colton Brinker perfectly fits the part of the “deal-with-thedevil” baseball phenom that appears from nowhere to lead the beleaguered Washington Senators past those damn Yankees to the pennant. John Jurkovic brings a clever performance as the devilish Mr. Applegate, hamming it up when called for (which is often), while Michaela Stich may well have been born to play the sassy lady-reporter Gloria. But, like most high school productions, Damn Yankees is at its best during the production numbers which are filled with sharp dancing, crisp harmonies and performances by an ensemble that gives full and youthful voice to some of Broadway’s most memorable tunes. The focus of the Le-Win
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production passes easily to the sound footing of a bright and promising supporting cast. Rachael Wybourn has innate warmth as Meg, the wife Joe leaves behind under a seemingly endless pile of dishes and household drudgery for the ballpark. Brinker switches deftly between the older Joe, who aches longingly for his former vigor and the youthful AllAmerican Joe who lands on the Wheaties box; and even though Brinker has a voice that could silence an umpire, he doesn’t let that strength subdue the traces of his former self while continuing to yearn sweetly for his abandoned spouse.
In scenes both in the locker room and on the diamond, the characters adopt familiar stereotypes. But if the Senators are the expected wise-cracking, gum-chewing squad, they step into “Heart,” and blast it to the bleachers. The show is meant to be generally low-tech with the sets almost boasting of a wistful child’s love for bold shapes and primary colors, and the costumes simply serve as reminders that the 1950’s were not always an era of elegance. Even one of the evening’s running gags has Applegate’s oft agitated fingertips turning to matchsticks as he inadvertently starts
minor fires, most often with cigarettes making for enduring, but always clever shtick. The general raucousness of the Le-Win production easily captures the snappy pace and crackling wit favored in earlier and much larger productions of Damn Yankees, and it’s not high art, it’s not intended to be. It’s a show where you might find yourself singing without restraint to some timeless Broadway tunes—like almost everyone within earshot at the Le-Win Fine Art Center over the weekend. It’s Damn Yankees for petesakes, and as long as you kept that in perspective, you had a damn good time.
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